Star playing cards and companion playing card games

ABSTRACT

The STAR PLAYING CARDS were designed for a New Appearance and to change the way conventional Card Games are played resulting in stimulating interest and excitment. They consist of New Celestial Bodies suits each being a different Color. The Suits are named: Stars, Blue Color; Moons, Red color; Novas, Green Color; and Clouds, Gold Color. There are four “X” Cards in each Deck and each is a different Color to match each Suit. Both the Facesides and Backsides are totally New Designs. The Characters are alpha-numeric with 8 Numbers “2” thru “9” and 6 Letters “E” thru “A” and “X”. Total Card quantity in each deck is 56. The Facesides display a complete Circle Run showing how the Letters join the Numbers and the rank of each Character. A large Suit Symbol and Character is displayed at the center of each Card for easier Card recognition. The Backsides and the “X” Cards&#39; Facesides show an Eclipse Design of all four Suit Symbols. The Cards are produced as poker size, 63 mm× 88 mm and Casino Quality. Matching the “X” Cards Color with a Suit or using different “X” Cards Color than the Suit, allows different scores and different Hands in playing the Games. Included are 4 New Games that use the New Playing Cards: Flush 22 and Wildcat 22 played similar to Blackjack; 4Xpoker played similar to Poker and Star Rummy played similar to Contract Rummy. High Hands in Flush 22 and Wildcat 22 are 22 points in place of 21.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Title: Star Playing Cards and Companion Playing Card Games

[0002] Application No.: 60/310,405

[0003] Filing Date: Aug. 6, 2001

[0004] Relationship: A Provisional Patent Application on the same Invention

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0005] Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

[0006] Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Field of endeavor: New Playing Cards and Playing Card Games for use in Homes, Casinos, Internet Casinos, Video Gaming Machines, and Card Rooms.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The Star Playing Cards were Developed to create new ways to play traditional Card Games and to inject a New Visual interest to increase the number of Casino Players. This was accomplished with the use of: 4 different color Suit Symbols in place of 2 color Suit Symbols; the use of 4 added “X” Cards, the same colors as the Suits in the New 56 Card Decks. Both the Facesides and the Backsides are redesigned yet the Cards can be used to also play most traditional Card Games and the 4 new Games.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Dwg. 1, Depicts a complete Stars Suit with a matched Blue Color Wild card.

[0010] Dwg. 2, FIGS. 1 thru 4: Depicts the four Suits. FIG. 1: Number 2 in the Stars Suit a Blue Color; FIG. 2 Number 2 in the Moons Suit a Red Color; FIG. 3 Number 2 in the Clouds Suit a Gold Color; and FIG. 4 Number 2 in the Novas Suit a Green Color. Each Suit has 13 Characters as shown in the Full Circle Runs On each Card. Cards are poker Size.

[0011] Dwg. 3, FIGS. 5 thru 8: Depicts the Facesides of the Cards in the three design levels : FIG. 5 Shows numbered Cards having the least Design representing the lower rank Cards; FIG. 6 Shows lettered Cards having a greater Design representing the higher Rank Cards; FIG. 7 Shows the “A” Card having the most Design and is the highest rank. FIG. 8 Shows the Backside Design and an Eclipse of all four Suit Symbols. These come in 4 different colors for Home Games.

[0012] Dwg. 4, FIGS. 9 thru 12: Each figure Depicts the Facesides of the “X” Cards which are each a different color to match the suit colors. The Eclipse Design is also shown on the “X” Cards.

[0013] Dwgs. 5,6, Depict the Billiard Cloth Table Layouts. Approximate size 42×76 inches. The Background Color is Green for the FLUSH 22 Game and a Burgundy Color for the WILDCAT 22 Game. The printed Colors are white, Black, Red, and Yellow or other contrasting Colors. A Casinos' name may also appear. Layouts guide the Players on how to place their Bets and what payoff ratio to expect when they get a winning Score. Each Layout has different wording.

[0014] Dwgs. 7,8, FIGS. 13 thru 18: Depicts the six Signs which are the Basic Meld required for each of the six hands in the STAR RUMMY Game. The 6 Signs stand upright on the Table in one stack which can be read from Both sides.

[0015] Dwg 9, FIGS. 19 and 20: Depicts the 7th Sign for Bonus and Optional Meld and a Sleeve for storing all 7 Signs. The Sleeve is shown in an unfolded view to show the wording on each side.

[0016] Dwg. 10, FIGS. 21 and 22: FIG. 21 Depicts the STAR RUMMY Game Score Pad. The Pad consists of 20 score sheets all gummed together at the top. FIG. 22 Depicts the “Instructions for use” which is displayed when the bottom Score sheet is unfolded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] STAR PLAYING CARDS: Totally New Design 4 color PLAYING CARDS with New Celestial Bodies Suits; shown on Dwg 1, Dwg. 2, FIGS. 1 thru 4, Drawing 3, FIGS. 5 thru 8, and Drawing 4, FIGS. 9 thru 12. The Cards measure 63×88 mm, Poker Size. They were Developed to create new ways to play traditional Games and to inject a New Visual interest for Home Games and Casino Games. This was accomplished with the use of 4 different color Suit Symbols in place of 2 color Suit Symbols; and also with the use of 4 added “X” Cards, the same colors as the Suits. Both the Facesides and the Backsides are redesigned yet the Cards can be used to play most of the traditional Card Games as well as 4 New Games. Each Deck now has 56 Cards in place of 52. Instructions for their use are shown on pages 1/2 and 2/2. The Instructions are packaged for Home use with 2 Decks that have 2 different color Backsides for easy deck separation. The Casinos normally Print their own design on the Backside. Also included in the 2 Deck Box are the Game rules for Games 1, 2, and 3 described below.

[0018] The Invention includes 4 New Games described below which can be played only with the New Design STAR PLAYING CARDS described above:

[0019] GAME 1: FLUSH 22, a Casino or Home Game played similar to BLACKJACK. The “X” Cards are Valued at 1 OR 11 Points. The Game Has New Hands called MAX-HI (same color Cards) and MAX-LO (odd color Cards) with a New High Score of 22 in place of a NATURAL Score 21. INSURANCE Bets are offered more and paid less creating less frequent but higher payoffs to the players as compared to BLACKJACK which pays more frequent but lower payoffs. This is due to the possible 48 combinations for Max Hands verses 20 possible combinations for Natural Hands.

[0020] New SPECIAL Bets Pay 10 to 1 if Dealer gets any Max Hand creating more ways to Bet for the Players. In a Casino, FLUSH 22 is played on a Special green Color Cloth Layout with unique Printing as shown on Dwg. 5. The complete FLUSH 22 Game Rules are shown on pages 1A and 2A.

[0021] GAME 2: WILDCAT 22, a Casino or Home Game played similar to BLACKJACK The “X” Cards are Valued at 1 thru 11 Points. The Game Has New Hands called MAX-HI (same color Cards) and MAX-LO (odd color Cards) with a New High Score of 22 in place of a NATURAL Score 21. This Game is very exciting as many high scores are obtained and Bust scores (over 22) are less frequent. INSURANCE Bets are offered more and paid less creating less frequent but higher payoffs to the Players as compared to BLACKJACK which pays more frequent but lower payoffs. This is due to the possible 48 combinations for Max Hands verses 20 possible combinations for Natural Hands.

[0022] New Special Bets Pay 20 to 1 if Dealer gets any Max Hand creating more ways to bet for the Players. In a Casino, WILDCAT 22 is Played on a special Burgundy Color Cloth Layout with unique Printing shown on Dwg. 6. The complete WILDCAT 22 Game Rules are shown on pages 1B and 2B.

[0023] GAME 3: 4XPOKER, A Casino or Home Game played similar to 3, 5, or 7 Card Poker. 5 OF A KIND is a New regular Hand and obtained with the use of the “X” Cards. It is ranked between 4 OF A KIND and a STRAIGHT FLUSH. When using “X” Cards in a STRAIGHT FLUSH Hand they must be the same color as the Suit otherwise the hand is downgraded to a STRAIGHT Hand. Hands made with all Cards of the Same Color outrank Hands made with Cards of Odd Colors. Like in conventional Poker, The casinos take a percentage of each pot as their earnings. There is no printing on the table Cloth. The complete 4XPOKER Game Rules are shown on pages 1C and 2C.

[0024] GAME 4: STAR RUMMY, A Home Game played similar to CONTRACT RUMMY. The following are the differences in the way the game is played: Special Bonus and Optional Meld allows subtracting Points from your score and possible wins with Negative Number Scores. Includes a Basic meld Sign-Set of 7 Signs placed upright on the Table for quick reference to the Bonus Meld, Optional meld, and the changing Meld requirements of each Deal. There are 5 optional ways to play the Game. The Game Box includes 4 Decks of STAR PLAYING CARDS that have different color Backsides for easy separation of Decks. A Score Pad is also included. The complete STAR RUMMY Game Rules are shown on pages 1/10 thru 10/10. 

What I claim as my invention is:
 1. STAR PLAYING CARDS Comprised of 56 cards per Deck and new Design Frontsides and Backsides, see Dwgs 1 thru 4 and pages 1/2 and 2/2.
 2. FLUSH 22 Game Rules, pages 1A and 2A and includes a Cloth Layout, see Dwg.
 5. 3. WILDCAT 22 Game Rules, see pages 1B and 2B and includes a Cloth Layout, see Dwg.
 6. 4. 4XPOKER Game Rules, see pages 1C and 2C.
 5. STAR RUMMY Game Rules, see pages 1/10 thru 10/10 and Includes a Sign-Set and Score Pad, see Dwgs 7 thru
 10. Claim No's 2 thru 5 are dependant on Claim No. 1 to be functional Games. 